Happy Birthday, Joan Collins, a Magnificent 79 Today!

Joan Collins has reached her eighth decade and The Morton Report thinks it is high time the Queen made her a Dame.

Joan says on her Twitter page: “Actress, Writer, Producer, Wife, Mother, Grandmother. Much travelled. Exhausted.” No wonder. This grand lady of stage and screen is 79 years old and shows no sign of slowing down. She is writing another book and has just been around the world delivering her inimitable one-woman shows.

As one of her biggest fans (I also never leave the house without make-up), I think she epitomises glamour and shows that you don’t have to give up on cosmetics and grooming at any age. Her last book, The World According to Joan, was a best seller. If we followed Joan’s rules, we’d live in a more civilised, cleaner, and happier world.

Joan has had a long film career but is mostly known for her stunning performance as Alexis Carrington in the hit television series Dynasty. I remember eagerly awaiting each episode in the early '80s. Recently, I watched the shows again and nothing has been lost of the vibrancy, the sparkle, and the sheer fun of Dynasty, even after all those years. It must be the best entertainment series ever made and Joan was its biggest star.

As well as her acting and writing achievements, Joan is a great supporter of charities: the National Center for Learning Disabilities Inc; the NSPCC; and the Shooting Star Children’s Hospice are the ones most closely associated with her, but I'm sure she has given of her time and talents to others.

I sincerely hope that by this time next year, when Joan turns 80, the Queen will have declared Joan Collins OBE, a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, like other actresses such as Judi Dench and Helen Mirren.

Margaret Holder has been writing about the Royal Family in newspapers and magazines for thirty years. She also broadcasts frequently on the BBC, both radio and television. She reckons she has now written more royal documentaries than anyone else in the world. Some are still being shown on channels in…